News

Iranian Federation delegation’s visit and talks with IWF

In the process of an investigation into the nine Iranian athletes who tested positive out of competition before the 2006 World Championships, the Iranian Weightlifting Federation appointed a new President, Mr. Bahram Afsharzadeh (for a long time General Secretary of the Iranian NOC) and dismissed the Bulgarian chief coach and his assistants. Mr. Bahram Afsharzadeh, accompanied by Dr. A. Shahabi IWF MC Member, visited the IWF headquarters for talks with the IWF President, Dr. Tamás Aján. Within the discussions Mr. Afsharzadeh gave detailed information including the current financial situation of the Iranian Federation. As a result of 7 hours of negotiations, the parties agreed in the following payment conditions of the fine previously imposed by the Executive Board.The Iranian Weightlifting Federation paid 25% and will pay another 12,5% of the fine to the IWF before the 3rd of December 2006 and the remaining 62,5% will be settled before the 20th September 2007 in several instalments.The above agreement does not effect the suspension of the 9 Iranian athletes, however, the Iranian Federation may participate in international events with other athletes.(See also: Anti-Doping

Dr. Aján visits Azerbaijan

Dr. Tamás Aján, President of the IWF paid a short visit to Baku, capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. During his stay, he met Mr. Azad Rahimov, Minister for Youth and Sport, Mr. Vagut Nazarov, Vice President and Mr. Ismail Ismailov, General Secretary of the Weightlifting Federation, as well as the leaders of the Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. On their agenda were items of weightlifting and sport in general. The Azeri sports leaders reconfirmed their strong interest in hosting Senior Weightlifting World Championships in their country, but the possibility of another type of worldwide event was not excluded, either. The possible dates and the exact nature of such an event will be agreed

2006 Mundial: Doping free!

All the analysis reports of the 2006 Olympic Qualification World Championships, held in Santo Domingo, DOM have now arrived at the IWF from the laboratory, which is, of course, a WADA-accredited one. 31% of the participants (149 competitors out of 484) were tested - a figure unparallelled among all sports - and only one is positive (not a medal winner), with the case still being in process. It seems that the IWF's powerful anti-doping campaign and strategy have brought their fruits: the World Championships may be regarded as doping free. The results and the altogether 10 world records achieved in Dominica can now be confirmed and registered as

New IWF Referees’ Examination

Completing the IWF Handbook 2005-2008 and following the various modifications that have been decided by the IWF Executive Board since the new rules entered into force, a new IWF Referees? Examination has now been elaborated and finalized. A hard copy of the updated Referees' Examination ? 100 questions and 100 answers ? was sent to all National Federations, for application to test national referees for promotion to Category 2 International Referee, or for promotion from Category 2 to Category 1 International Referee, in accordance with the IWF Technical Rule 6.4. The Referees' Examination can be downloaded here:

Olympic Qualification Preliminary Status after Santo Domingo

As it is known, weightlifting's total quota of 260 athletes for the Olympic Games of Beijing 2008 will be filled in a process of qualification, of which here is a summary: MenWomen No of athletesNo of NOCsNo of athletesNo of NOCsQualification at the 2006 and 2007 World Championsh.120275717Continental qualification30221817Individual qualification8877Tripartite Commission Invitation places6644Host nation6141Total170649046 As a first step, National Olympic Committees will achieve qualification places according to their position in the joint team classification by points adding those scored in the 2006 and in the 2007 World Championships, whereby Points achieved at the 2006 WWC team classification = 100%   andPoints achieved at the 2007 WWC team classification x 1.2 = 120%After the 2006 World Championships in Santo Domingo, here is the status of qualification ? just for preliminary information and orientation!Qualification at 2006 WWC - MenQualification at 2006 WWC -

New technical rules!

PROGRESSION OF THE WEIGHT OF THE BARBELLA study of the major events held since the introduction of the 1kg rule has shown that only an insignificant minority (0.4%) of the athletes ? whether men or women, and whether in snatch or in clean and jerk ? have accepted the 1kg automatic increase of the barbell?s weight from the 1st to the 2nd attempt. Reloading the barbell takes a lot of time. Therefore, it was decided thatas of 1st January 2007, the automatic progression of the weight of the barbell from the 1st attempt to the 2nd attempt is 2 kg (two kilogrammes)!The 2kg minimum progression refers only to the 2nd attempt. It applies both in snatch and in clean and jerk, for men and women, for seniors and juniors. For 3rd attempts lifters may take the 1kg progression or any weight, multiples of 1kg, as before. TIME LIMIT FOR WEIGHT CHANGE REQUESTCompetitions are too often slowed down when an athlete who follows himself/herself and has 2 minutes delays the announcement of his/her decision whether to take the automatically allocated weight or take more until the last second of his/her time. Many times, for 1 minute and 30 seconds there is no activity on the platform and the public is waiting for something to happen. This gives a bad image and takes a lot of unnecessary time from the competition.Therefore, the IWF Executive Board decided that:As of 1st January 2007, a request for changing the weight of the barbell must be announced within the FIRST 30 SECONDS of the allocated time! This is the same in both cases: the 1-minute and the 2-minute allocated times. RESTING AREA IN WARM-UPIn order to eliminate the possibilities of manipulation, in future events organisers shall not provide separated cabins/booths for the participating teams in the warm-up